8-20-08, 9:54 am

In a surprise move, Northwest Airlines asked Clear Channel Communications to remove anti-nuclear weapons billboards placed by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) for the media company's Minneapolis airport advertisement network.


The nearly 40-year old science organization characterized Northwest Airlines' demand to have the billboard removed as the company playing the role of 'censor.'

Northwest Airlines is the official airline of the Republican National Convention, which will be held early next month in Minneapolis.

According to an e-mail exchange between Northwest Airlines officials and Clear Channel, which was obtained by UCS, Northwest Airlines officials complained that the billboard was 'anti-McCain' and 'scary.' One Northwest Airlines official characterized the ad as an 'attack ad' that it would not allow be shown in its concourses.

Clear Channel agreed with the official Republican airline and withdrew the ads.

UCS stated that the Minneapolis billboard ad was one of two such ads produced by the organization and placed at both the Denver airport, the site of the Democratic National Convention, and the Minneapolis airport. Each are aimed at reaching the convention goers with a message that the US should rethink its nuclear weapons policy.

The Minneapolis ad had been placed on Aug. 13th and removed Aug. 18th.

Both the Denver and Minneapolis ads called on both presidential candidates to reduce the US nuclear arsenal. The Minneapolis version featured an image of downtown Minneapolis with target crosshairs superimposed on it. 'When only one nuclear bomb could destroy a city like Minneapolis,' the headline read, 'we don't need 6,000.'

The subhead stated: 'Senator McCain: It's time to get serious about reducing the nuclear threat.' The Denver billboard featured an image of that city and addressed the same statement to Barack Obama.

The billboard further asked viewers to visit the Web site, , to learn more

'Nuclear weapons are scary, and that's why we need to pay attention to them,' said Elliott Negin, a UCS spokesman. 'But to say that the billboard is anti-McCain is ludicrous. These are not 'attack ads,' they are a strong reminder to both candidates that this is a very serious issue they need to address. Northwest Airlines is trying to censor free speech, and I don't think that's their role.'

'The Cold War ended nearly 20 years ago, but the United States and Russia still have many thousands of nuclear weapons, and each keeps more than a thousand on hair-trigger alert, ready to be launched within a matter of minutes,' said Lisbeth Gronlund, a physicist and co-director of UCS's Global Security Program. 'We need a public debate about US nuclear weapons policy, and that's why we launched our media campaign.'

Earlier this year, UCS released 'Toward True Security: Ten Steps the Next President Should Take to Transform US Nuclear Weapons Policy' and a scientists' statement on nuclear weapons signed by 21 Nobel laureates.

--Reach Joel Wendland at